Singapore braces for climate change

Evelyn Choo in Channel News Asia: In 2010, climate change made its presence clearly known in Singapore. Flash floods in particular spared no mercy on the island, leaving Orchard Road as one of the worst-hit areas. But a massive operation is underway to protect the shopping belt, which is set to go full steam in January.

Flash floods hit Orchard Road not once but twice, resulting in million-dollar losses at the shopping belt. The public and private sectors then embarked on a slew of preventive measures. National water agency PUB is spending S$26 million to raise certain stretches of Orchard Road by 30 centimetres.

Work has since got off to a slow but tactical start due to the recent festive period. Steven Goh, executive director of Orchard Road Business Association, said: "You don't see much progress because PUB has agreed to delay the road-raising works till mid-January. "We cross our fingers, as major works will only be carried out in mid-January.....the relocation of the bus stop, jacking up of the ERP gantries, and raising of the lamp posts on the road, these are major works."

…A Risk Map Study of Singapore's coastlines will also commence soon. The project will map out areas being threatened by rising sea levels, which could lead to a high risk of land loss and flooding. The project, which could take three years to complete, will find out how climate change impacts Singapore's biodiversity and public health….

Christmas decorations along Orchard Road in Singapore, shot by Benjamint444, Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 only as published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled GNU Free Documentation License